Devastated
by ThePensAndTheSwords
Summary: When Annabeth loses her baby, it seems like her and Percy's lives are falling apart. Together, the two of them must find a way to deal with the pain. One shot.


The drive home from the hospital was silent. Annabeth stared out the passenger side window, watching the city go by. Her face was blank and emotionless. Her gray eyes were dim and cloudy. They reminded him of the way the sky looks after it's been raining for so many days and you're sure you'll never get a break, that you'll never see the sun again.

Percy reached over and squeezed her hand. He hated seeing her like this. He wanted to say something, but what was there to say? He sure as hell wasn't going to tell her it was okay; this was anything but okay, and Annabeth was no fool.

It had started out as a great day. Percy's students were off school and Annabeth had taken a day off. Even Zeus had cooperated. After a long week of rain, the clouds finally cleared away so they'd planned a little picnic in Central Park to enjoy the beautiful weather. Percy was doing the dishes while he waited for Annabeth to finish getting ready.

Then there was a large crashing sound from upstairs and then he heard Annabeth's terrified scream. "Percy!" she cried. At first he thought she had probably just seen a spider and needed him to come rescue her, but when he found his wife in the bathroom, his eyes widened.

Annabeth was huddled on the floor, tears in her eyes. Her beautiful hair fell in soft waves but her face was deathly pale like a ghost. Blood pooled around her. He was definitely no doctor, but even he knew that this was not a good sign.

"Oh gods," Percy murmured, falling to his knees beside her.

"The baby," she said weakly. Her entire body was trembling. He scooped Annabeth into his arms, dashed her out to the car, and they lurched out of the driveway.

It took them ten minutes to get to the hospital. He carried a delirious Annabeth inside. They did all kinds of tests on her. After what seemed like hours of waiting, the doctor came in and confirmed their worst fears. Their baby was gone.

ooo

It was almost nine o'clock by the time they got home into their driveway. Neither of them had eaten dinner, or lunch for that matter, but they weren't hungry.

Wordlessly, they both went up to the bathroom. It was exactly as they had left it; the white tile was stained brilliant, bright red. Annabeth's expression, he noticed, was ice cold. The sight of blood had never bothered him before, but seeing it smeared all over the bathroom made him feel sick. As they scrubbed the floor, Percy blinked back tears from his eyes. He couldn't break down now. He had to be strong, for Annabeth's sake.

As they crawled into bed that night, Percy asked, "Are you okay?" he asked her, the first words either of them had spoken since they found out.

She nodded.

Percy leaned over, kissing her forehead. "I love you."

"I love you, too," she replied and turned off the lamp.

ooo

The next day, Percy woke to the sound of his alarm clock. He had hardly gotten any sleep. How could he? He rolled over to find that the other side of the bed was empty. With a groan, he got up. When he went downstairs, Annabeth was heading out.

"Where are you going?" Percy asked.

"Work, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said.

"We should both take the day off," Percy suggested.

"I'm fine," Annabeth insisted. The lie was so obvious he didn't bother calling her out on it. Percy noticed the dark circles under her eyes that even the unusual amount of makeup she'd caked on her face couldn't cover up. He guessed she had gotten even less sleep than he had.

"Annabeth, please," Percy begged. He was desperate. "Don't shut me out. You can't internalize this. It will only make it worse."

"Look, Percy, I've got to go," his wife sighed. She kissed his cheek. "I'll see you later."

"I love you," he told her and she walked out the door.

He'd never felt more alone.

ooo

Usually, Percy loved his job as the history teacher at Sunny Hill Middle School, but he was relieved when the bell rang at the end of the day. He was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to go home and relax with Annabeth.

On his way home, he stopped at Benny's, their favorite pizza place and picked up a pizza. The heavenly smell of gooey cheese was enough to lift his spirits a little. He just hoped it would do the same for her.

Annabeth's car was already parked in the garage when he got home, which was weird. She almost never got home before him. None of the lights were on inside and there was no sign of any kind of disturbance. "Annabeth?" he called. Nobody answered.

When he got to the top of the stairs, he could hear someone weeping softly. He grabbed Riptide out of his pocket. "Annabeth?" he said again.

He found her in the spare bedroom room, which they had already started to turn into the nursery. She clutched a small, blue, stuffed bear, one that would have belonged to their baby. She was crying.

"Annabeth..." Percy whispered. She looked up at him. Her eyes were red and puffy.

"P-Percy," she mumbled, wiping her cheeks. "I-I..."

He knelt beside her and put her hand on her shoulder. Annabeth broke down. She threw her arms around him and started to sob- this horrible, heartbroken sobbing. She was trembling. Percy just held her as she shattered against him.

Not for the first time, Percy felt like he'd been kicked in the gut by the injustice of life.

Percy and Annabeth had been trying for a baby for over a year, without any luck. The doctors had suggested they consider adoption. Percy had tried to stay optimistic, but even he was beginning to lose hope when unexpectedly, Annabeth found out she was pregnant. He remembered how happy he'd been when she'd told him. Now, only three months later, he felt broken.

Percy and Annabeth had done everything right. He had never expected been expecting their life to be easy, but still, this was so unfair. After all they'd been through together, didn't they deserve a happy ending?

As Percy pulled her close, he noticed he was crying too. He hadn't realized how much he already loved his unborn son or daughter. That baby had died before it got the chance to live.

"I'm so sorry," Annabeth whispered into his t-shirt, still hugging him.

"For what?" Percy askes.

"For being so mean to you this morning," she explained.

"It's okay, I know you didn't mean-"

She continued. "And for losing the baby."

"Annabeth, please don't blame yourself."

This only made her cry harder. "It's my fault."

"No it isn't," he said. "Things like this happen. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Then why?" Annabeth screamed desperately. "Why is our baby dead, Percy?"

He flinched. Her words stung him like a slap in the face. It was quiet for a long time before he answered. "I don't know," he admitted finally. It was the truth.

They stayed liked that for what seemed like an eternity, but eventually, the crying of grief-stricken pair ceased. They sat, holding each other like a life line. Their eyes were swollen and red. Percy felt numb, all of senses dulled. He didn't have any tears left in him.

"I just want our baby," Annabeth whimpered, putting her head in her hands.

"I know. I do too."

"This sucks."

"Yeah."

"I was so happy, you know. Things were actually starting to look up for us. We were finally getting our happy ending and then it all got taken away."

"Not all of it," Percy reminded her hopefully. "You're still stuck with me. I know you're hurting, Annabeth. So am I. And it's going to hurt for a long time. But you know what? We're going to get though this. I promise. As long as we're together."

"As long as we're together," Annabeth agreed, squeezing her husband's hand.

Percy kissed the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her lavender shampoo. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too."

Percy knew that these next few weeks would be hard- the toughest challenge they'd ever faced- but at least they had each other. And right now, what more did they really need?


End file.
